High in La Paz

We arrived at the Bolivian/Argentinean border on a Sunday, and when we arrived the Argentine immigration officers assured us that as long as we had 135 dollars each, we would easily enter Bolivia that night. When we got to the other side, and discovered that Bolivian immigration consisted of 15 year old kids playing video games and one very old man, we got a little worried.

Apparently, the man in charge of issuing visas had decided to call it a day long before we even arrived. The 15 year olds made a few phone calls at the old man's behest, and we settled in to wait. As the minutes ticked by, and upon realizing that we could not reenter Argentina for a full 24 hours, Tori got pretty nervous. Stew magically stayed cool, and sure enough, about 30 minutes before the immigration office was due to close, the visa man arrived. He barely glanced at our carefully prepared materials (passport photos, hotel reservations, plane tickets, ect), took our money, and waved us through. In all, it took about 10 minutes.

Crossing the border into Bolivia was like entering an entirely different world. Suddenly the streets were filled with vendors selling every type of plastic and woven crap you could want, the smell of street food (and, in some sketchy corners, stale urine) filled the air. We ambled up to the bus station and bought two tickets for the night bus to Tarija. The tickets only cost 5 dollars, and the trip was 7 hours.

We arrived in Tarija early the next day after a freezing, bumpy, semi terrifying ride. Bolivian buses are a lot more like the old school buses that we rode in Central America than the luxury liners of Argentina and Chile. Alas, no wine service here. We spent an hour or so stumbling groggily around Tarija looking for accommodation. We opted for the place that our guidebook claimed had super hot showers. Its cold in Bolivia, and cold showers in cold weather are pretty miserable. Unfortunately, this place also ended up having an unbelievably wonky bed. Pobrecito Stew ended up sleeping on the floor that night.

Tarija, the so called Andalusia of the Andes for it’s Mediterranean climate and wine production, ended up being a pretty boring place. We struggled to find interesting things to do, especially since we were unimpressed by the wine and didn’t think a wine tour would be worth it. I guess it’s hard to be impressed by wine after Salta, especially if you’ve visited it with Tori’s mom!

After Tarija, our next stop was La Paz, the highest capital city in the world. We’d heard that La Paz has a raging night life, and being that Stew’s 21^st was mere days away, we hopped on another (equally if not more freezing) night bus. We found incredibly cheap accommodation on arrival, which, of course, made us very happy.

Our first day in La Paz was spent acclimatizing. At nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, most tourists that come here experience some form of altitude sickness. Neither of us got it too bad, but perhaps that is because we followed local advice, which is to eat little, do little, and drink little. We also took good ol’ Western medicine, Diamox. Nonetheless, walking up La Paz’s many hills left us embarrassingly winded.

After a full day of rest, we decided we were up for a little nighttime sightseeing. We walked down to the Witches’ Market, a section of the city where old women in various stages of decay sell dried llama fetuses (among other things) in various stages of decay. Also for sale were dried monkey heads, various multi colored powders, amulets, charms, and cheap touristy crap. We wandered the streets both in awe and grossed out. If anyone is in dire need of a llama fetus…there’s no way it’s going in our bags.

Craving a little companionship, we moved from our ultra cheap hostel into a backpackers’ hostel. It’s called Adventure Brew, and though it’s a little pricey, it rules. You get one free microbrew per day, and they’re tasty! The crazy Texan brewmaster is quite a gem. Our first day at Adventure Brew we got as much tourism in as possible. First we visited the Coca Musuem, where we learned all about Coca and Cocaine production in Bolivia and the world. We learned that United States is responsible for 50 percent of cocaine consumption in the world, and still produces one ton of cocaine per yer, legally. We also learned that while the pope has condemned cocaine usage, he fully supports the production of cocaine infused wine. In fact, it deserves a medal. Hmmmmm….

We also went to a contemporary art museum, and attempted to go to an archaeology museum. With our luck, at least one museum we desperately wanted to see had to be closed…Instead of visiting the archaelogy museum, we walked around La Paz’s famous plazas, and saw the Presidential Palace, which is still riddled with bullet holes from Bolivia’s last 3 coups. Also, we discovered that all of the traffic cops in downtown La Paz wear animal costumes. This means a zebra, cow, elephant, or virtually any other creature, ventures out into the street in the crazy traffic to wave pedestrians across.

That night for dinner, we treated ourselves to some absolutely scrumptious Indian food. We had to wait a while for a table, which led to much beer drinking, which is always dangerous at high altitude. By the time we could order, we were ready to eat pretty much everything on the menu…which we did. Don’t worry, Moms, there was enough left over for a full lunch for 3 the next day!

The next day was Stew’s 21^st birthday, which we were determined to celebrate in high style. We eschewed the dorm and booked our own private room, had a pancake breakfast, and slept in. Our first real activity of the day was the beer spa, which is a bathtub above a fire filled with beer. The bar manager poured beer all over us while we sat in the tub. It was righteous. The beer spa also included a free pitcher (five pints) of beer, which we enjoyed in our beer bath tub. This was clearly the right way to start the day. Then, we partied.

Yesterday, the day after Stew’s birthday, we did nothing but watch movies and recover. After the previous night’s activities, we felt we had earned a day of rest. Today, we will go to watch an all female traditional wrestling tournament, the battle of the Cholitas.

Love,

Tori and Stew